Catching Waves. · 2019-08-28 · and sectors including banking and finance, telecommunications and...

Catching Waves. GETTING CULTURE RIGHT

© 2019 Human Synergistics International All Rights Reserved

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Rob Phipps Managing Director evolvefast & AHRI Non Executive Director

Rob has extensive experience leading large HR teams

across the world and influencing the national HR Agenda

through his roles as Chief People Officer and on the board

of Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI). He is so

passionate about the role of culture in organisations that

he left corporate work late 2018 to launch a boutique

consultancy connecting companies to their people by

dealing with problems worth solving.

About the Research Sponsors Human Synergistics Australia and The Australian HR Institute have been partners for seven years. Both organisations seek to have a positive impact on people and organisations, and see that one of the best opportunities for doing that is through improving culture.

Corinne Canter Head of Consulting, Human Synergistics Australia

Corinne has over 25 years experience leading teams

both locally and globally in a variety of organisations

and sectors including banking and finance,

telecommunications and technology. She is

passionate about helping leaders unlock growth in

their organisations and is a published author on

leadership and culture, with a number of her articles

appearing in publications such as Business Insider

and the Australian Financial Review.


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The Crisis of Culture.Brexit, border walls & Royal Commissions. Has trust ever been more important? If you live in Australia, it takes only one Royal Commission

or one ‘Sandpaper gate’ to see what can happen when

behaviours widely seen as inappropriate, unacceptable

and unethical become the norm.

People are asking the big questions. Can we still trust large

organisations? Can we believe what they say? Do they

care about their customers, their people, their stakeholders

or the communities in which they do business?

Many organisations forget they are operating with an

implicit social licence to trade. They serve customers’

needs and exist within a society. This licence requires

a balance be struck between high performance and

appropriate behaviour. Organisations who ignore or

dismiss the need for this balance, do so at their own

peril putting their credibility on the line.

The new world of minute-by-minute posting on social

media has turned the question of trust on its head.

Corporate spin is out, radical transparency is in.

Organisations, whatever their form, are having to take

a fresh and more sustainable approach to cultivating

a healthy and productive culture for their employees,

customers, stakeholders and communities.

In what has become a low-trust climate, one critical

factor continues to be heralded as both the core problem

and the critical solution. Culture.

We’re in an age where investment in culture represents

an enormous opportunity. “Strategy off-sites” are still the

norm but they would be better balanced with rich and

important discussions about Company culture. This must

become the norm. It’s no longer a question but a reality:

culture must eat strategy for breakfast, day after day.

So what is culture?Part of the difficulty with culture is its mercurial nature

– it’s not tangible; it can’t be seen or touched. If choice is

the invisible hand in the marketplace, culture is the

invisible hand in the organisation.

We define ‘culture’ as:

• the identity and values of an organisation in action

• the expectations, values and norms that govern

behaviour in the organisation

• a leading indicator that gets us ahead of issues,

enabling us to move quickly through complexity

and ambiguity.

Culture can accelerate or brake the execution of strategy,

motivate high performance and ethical behaviour.

However, it can also create unintended collateral damage

that no organisation wants to be associated with.

Why this paper?This article has been written for anyone interested in

changing their organisation’s culture. Board members,

CEOs, executive teams, middle managers and the front

line. We think everyone has a role to play in culture. If you

need to understand who our target audience is… it’s you.

We decided to write this paper because, based on our

combined five decades of experience in organisational

development and transformation, we’ve concluded that

organisations often lack some critical components of a

great culture: day-to-day rituals that sustain and support

culture, a commitment to measuring the ‘success’ of

culture, and broader aspects of the organisational approach.

In a climate where organisations are under pressure to

deliver culture change, there is a very real risk that culture

will be treated as a point-in-time programme and therefore

be likely to fail. A new mindset for culture change is needed.

Catching Waves. LESSONS LEARNT FROM ‘GETTING CULTURE RIGHT’

Read theconditions.Choose your wave.

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© 2019 Human Synergistics International All Rights Reserved© 2019 Human Synergistics International All Rights Reserved

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“ You can’t stop the waves but you can learn to surf.” Jon Kabat-Zan

The Oceanic Connection.The title of this paper, Catching Waves, reflects our

realisation that culture shares many characteristics

with the ocean:

• Both are environments that should be nurtured

– they’re hard to control, but with regular care and

diligence they can be kept clean and healthy.

• When the tide’s right, you can catch a wave that

propels you forward with speed and a momentum

that’s both uplifting and on the edge.

• They’re shared by everyone, not just a few.

• They can be as scary as they are beautiful.

• They can inspire pride as well as inspire great courage.

What’s more, they connect through their environment;

they’re both home to a wide variety of species. Each has

its place and all are shaped by, and in turn shape, that

environment.

Like the ocean, culture is ever present – the only question

is whether it is flowing with you or against you.

Organisations ignore it at their own risk – those that

don’t respect and consciously attend to their culture may

realise too late that it was working against them all along.

Drilling down to the organisational level, culture

connects all things:

• It both infuses and determines the basis for

organisations’ operating models.

• It influences the decisions that leaders make.

• It underpins the systems and processes that shape

organisations’ day-to-day operations.

• It determines how organisations monitor and track

their performance and how management systems

are determined – whether they’re recruitment

systems, organisational structures, communication

processes or meeting agendas. All are influenced by

the organisation’s values and thus its culture.

The challenges of working on culture.It can be difficult to explain to a CEO and CFO what

they’re buying when they invest in culture. There are no

distinct tasks, and no tangible products that will save

time, automate processes or be picked up and bought

by a customer. It’s an emergent process, and it doesn’t

come with a money-back guarantee and so unsurprisingly

perhaps it is a difficult agenda to ‘sell’ to leaders who

want proof up front of impact.

Our proposition in this paper is that leaders must make

their culture at least as important as their digital strategy.

According to a recent survey on investment in digital

strategy for example, of the 554 participating companies,

35% reported spending between $1 million to $15 million,

and another 29% invested $15 million to $50 million1.

Based on our research and experience, organisations

generally do not have a distinct budget for culture, yet it is

a lead indicator versus financial lag indicator of the health

of the business. The costs of not factoring culture into

transformation plans can lead to lost opportunities for

synergies and cost efficiencies, lost customers, lost

employees and increased injuries to name just a few.

1 Altimeter @ Prophet’s State of the Digital Transformation Report 2018-2019

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In our experience enterprise transformation tends to

leave cultural turbulence in its wake, and if this isn’t

addressed the hoped-for benefits are seriously at risk.

The often-quoted “70% of change efforts fail” reflects the

fact that organisations don’t consider whether their

culture is an asset or a liability in executing their strategy.

Even organisations that are shamed for their poor culture

often respond by spending significantly more time and

money on regulatory compliance and structural change

than on transforming their culture.

Ready to rock your own boat?We can’t assure you that your journey of cultural

transformation will be free of upheaval or that it won’t

leave a significant wake. It’s a fact that if you’re doing it

right you’ll definitely create some disturbance to the

status quo. It will take courage, time, discipline, patience,

a plan and a commitment to stay the course – but the

payback on your efforts will be more than worthwhile.

Through this paper we aim to help you understand how

you can boost your organisation’s performance by

harnessing the power of your culture – whether you

seek to evolve it, transform it or reinvigorate it.

The above graphic shows the returns on investment

for just a few industry organisations that are successfully

riding the benefits of their investment in culture. No matter

what their industry or their size, enabling a more constructive

culture has helped these organisations to become

healthier in every sense: profit, operational expenditure,

employee engagement, consumer satisfaction, customer

retention, risk management and ethical behaviour.

Figure 1: Return on Investment of working on organisational culture

(source: Human Synergistics Australia)

18% increase Operating Profit

Financial Services

$2 million Savings in workers compensation claims per annum

Transportation

4 x increase Shareholder return over 3 years

Water Utility

3 x increase Share price over 5 years

FMCG 5 x increase Shareholder return over 5 years

38% reduction Bursts and leaks per 100km water main 3 years

30% increase Profit year 1, with 18% increase profit the following year

20 points Increase in net promoter Score

40% increase Increase in net interest margin

5% increase On-time running in 2 years

19% decrease Staff Turnover over 3 years

12% increase Customer satisfaction over 2 years


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Read the conditions. Decide where you’ll ride.

There are inherent dangers in navigating the ocean. If

you’re a surfer or an open-water swimmer, one of the first

things you learn, is to read the conditions and understand

the beach you’re on – the impact of the wind on the

ocean, the direction of the currents, and where the sand

breaks and rips are. The more you learn about the terrain,

the more successful you’ll be in catching and enjoying

the waves. Without that knowledge, you could be in

serious trouble.

This is also true for leaders who want to work on

their culture.

All too often while they have the right idea, they’re after

a silver bullet or a quick fix. This pressure for a quick fix

puts those assigned to find a solution in a “threat” state,

whereby in seeking to appease and please their leader,

they settle for a solution that looks good rather than

being good. The pressure to find a solution quickly can

pull organisations away from what may be the longer,

more difficult but ultimately right solution.

For example, when such leaders and their HR teams

research others who’ve successfully created culture

change, their first instinct is to replicate their approach.

While this is a natural reaction, it’s like trying to ride a

three-metre wave because it looked so easy when

Kelly Slater did it!

While learning from others’ experiences is a good start,

you also need to consider the characteristics and

conditions unique to your organisation.

Look to the horizon. Where do you want to be?

The first thing any organisation should do is identify

and define the desired future state (the ‘vision’).

This means asking and answering questions such as:

• What does our future state look like?

• What are people doing in that future world that

they’re not doing in this one?

• What positive effects will this future state have

on the organisation

• What value will it create or capture?

• What signals will let you know that you’ve ‘arrived’?

“ Choosing the wave you’ll be riding involves observation, and it will open a wide new world of advantages… You’ll be catching the best waves more often; you’ll experience less wipe-outs, get less tired and, above all, you’ll surely have more fun.”

Surfer Today


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For a long time, CEOs and executive teams have been

responsible for coming up with the answers to these

questions. But the world is changing, and organisations

should now ‘crowdsource’ this ‘visioning’ by involving

their people in the process.

It doesn’t have to be expensive. Through a well targeted

approach that blends face-to-face workshops and

technology, organisations can hear the diverse views of

their people fairly easily. In this early stage it’s important

to generate positive energy and build the momentum for

change – and that means providing your people with the

‘why’. Identifying the need will make work on your

organisation’s culture more effective. Explain ‘why’ and

help people understand where you want to go.

Creating a shared vision – one that’s owned as much by

employees as by leaders – is crucial to successful culture

change. If you’re looking for fast and sustained change,

you need to involve everyone.

Where are you now? Measure your culture to understand your current state.

We measure the health of the ocean; we measure the

winds and tidal forces; so we must measure our culture.

Peter Drucker said “what gets measured, gets managed”,

we agree and believe that it is virtually impossible to

change something you can’t measure. Establishing a

baseline for where you are now is critical.

Most organisations measure employee engagement in

the belief that they’re working on their culture. They are

not. Engagement is actually an outcome of culture.

In a world where we like to reduce complex issues to a

single percentage score, measuring culture requires you

to think differently. You need to accept a ‘grey’ point of

view; it’s not so precise that you can pin it down, but you

can measure it at a point in time while accepting that it’s

nuanced and ever-changing.

Many tools purport to measure culture, but not all are

equal to the task. If they don’t measure norms of

behaviour, they’re more likely to be climate or

engagement surveys – which do have a place, but reflect

outputs of culture rather than culture itself.

Adding to the confusion around culture is the new trend

of promising fast, real-time data, based on ‘customised’

or bespoke questions giving the impression that all

questions are equally valid (i.e. that all data has value).

But not all survey information leads to wisdom or

actionable insights that can deliver the results an

organisation seeks – and most of the platform-based

‘culture’ surveys measure engagement, not culture.

Read the conditions. Choose your wave.


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Understand that everyone’s fingerprints are on your culture.

You need to accept that culture is relative to everyone

in your organisation. So if you have 10 people working

in a group, there will likely be 10 different individual

experiences of culture.

You can’t ignore one person’s view while accepting

another’s; instead, you must find a way to ‘normalise’

the collective view to ensure that you’re respectful

and inclusive. At the same time, it’s important not to

homogenise the collective so that average looks

good. This is a sure step towards mediocrity.

“Culture does not change because we desire to change it. Culture changes when the organization is transformed; the culture reflects the realities of people working together every day.”

Frances Hesselbein

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Private health insurance is arguably one of today’s most

competitive and complex industries. In this landscape

HCF is the largest not-for-profit health fund in Australia.

In 2016 HCF began an ambitious programme of

transformation, one that included working on its culture

to ensure it would support the organisation’s ambitions.

HCF wanted to ignite the pride of its people and leverage

their passion for HCF members while evolving the culture

to another level.

In developing its culture strategy, HCF established a

cross-functional group who, worked in collaboration with

the executive team, and the marketing team to develop

an internal brand for the culture project. This internal

programme identity aligned to the HCF masterbrand to

be consistent with HCF’s external branding, conveying a

positive message about the culture HCF wanted to build

with its people, and reflect the desired future state.

The result was ‘I’M HCF: Go further together’. The

branding has been used as a symbol of people-focused

initiatives and represents where HCF wants to be and is

moving towards. The underlying message is clear: it’s a

journey in which individuals can apply their strengths and

potential within and for the organisation in service to its

members. The prototype of this booklet was tested with

about 30% of HCF employees who participated in a short

workshop called ‘Ambition’ sessions. The pictures

represent the final product based on their feedback.

A bonus by-product of the ambition sessions was

that participants left, enthused about the culture work,

spreading the word and sharing their excitement with

their colleagues, acting as a kind of social proof and

validation of the organisation’s genuine intent with

regard to working on culture.

HCF Case study Creating a compelling story.

Finally, steer clear of including the term ‘culture change’ in your project’s name; it’s often thought to be a code for ‘restructure’. Reduce confusion and develop an identity and brand that describes your aspiration or ambition and exemplifies the future state. It should remind people of the project’s purpose and destination and why it’s important that ‘we’ stay the course.

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Paddle out.

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The experience can be unsettling. Be prepared for uncertainty.

While all organisations have access to the same tools

and resources to re-energise, reset or transform their

culture, not all of them get there. This can often be put

down to uncertainty and anxiety among leaders and

employees – two of the least discussed aspects of

change, in general and in culture change specifically.

Uncertainty and anxiety can show up in a variety of ways:

• Leaders agreeing to commitments but stalling at

action;

• Constant requests for clarification (and reclarification)

of what seem simple actions;

• Re-stating of what needs to be done; and

• Compromising on initial ideas until they become

so vanilla they lose their change velocity.

• Resistance and opposition to the smallest of changes.

The most common tactic used to delay an initiative is,

“It’s not the right time”. While this can sometimes be true,

it can often actually mask the uncertainty about what

culture change will actually mean for all involved. Leaders

often have a fear that this work will ‘unleash’ demands

from employees that they cannot manage or meet.

Many factors contribute to a ‘successful’ culture. While

some are well documented, some are only learnt through

the trial and error of experience. In this section we provide

an overview of some of the less documented but all

important factors we have learned through trial and error.

There is only one culture – but there are many outcomes.

‘Culture confusion’ is exacerbated by the fact that

‘culture’ is referred to in a wide variety of ways; examples

include safety culture, inclusive culture, results orientated

culture, innovation culture and, most recently, risk culture

(since the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority

began to realise the impacts of culture on poor decision-

making). However, separating culture into identities like

these is misguided and unhelpful.

There is only one ‘culture’, and if it’s healthy & constructive

that culture will deliver outstanding results – keeping

people safe while delivering innovation by including

diverse perspectives and managing risks effectively.

What changes culture is the environment or structures in

which it exists. To go back to our analogy, in this world of

multiple shades of grey you can see the tide and you can

feel its pull, but the sand constantly shifts beneath the

surface. Who knows what may be swimming under

the water?

In our experience, leaders are often unaware of what is involved in the scale and scope of culture change, it seems to be a bit of mystery.

Paddle out.

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You may be swimming against the tide.

Your commitment to change must be stronger than

the current of the existing culture.

Culture change won’t happen in all parts of your

organisation at once – people and business units will

be at different stages of readiness, and some will resist

the change. It’s natural, and it happens everywhere.

Albert Einstein said, “Every action has an equal and

opposite reaction.” The drive towards a new culture

must be stronger than the force of the ‘old’ culture.

76% of organisations that remeasure their culture consistently improve their results.

Even when it’s working, culture change won’t always feel

smooth and enjoyable. To use our analogy, the paddle

out can be long and it can be hard to see if you’re still on

track, immersed in water as you are. Many organisations

start out well, only to paddle back when things get bumpy.

But what do you do when you reach the beach?

Work out a way to get back out there!

It is tough to paddle out again when the effort seems so

immense. Take heart in knowing that Human Synergistics

Australia’s data shows that 76% of organisations that

remeasure their culture consistently improve their

results. This shows that organisations that stay the

course, do improve.

Culture change comes with doubt; it’s normal.

Think of those doubting moments as a time to:

• breathe and take stock

• remember where you’re heading and trust in your

ability to achieve a positive outcome

• hold on to your vision and be clear about the

desired culture.

Share this clarity with others; in doing so you’ll share

the resilience. And don’t be the lone hero: get people

involved and active early.

Source: Human Synergistics Australia Data 2019

Proposed Change

Forces for Change

External

Forces resisting Change

Internal

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Clarity of vision, resilience and patience are critical,

as is your ability to be agile and pivot at points when

necessary. While your desired future state is unlikely

to change, the path towards it may – and several times

along the way. Be open to change, while keeping your

head above water to sight the markers of your journey

and the distance to your destination. Your ability to tack

at the right time in the right place will be critical.

Last but not least, check yourself…

Lastly, there’s you. Culture change is the result of a

series of individual changes. If everyone behaves more

constructively more often, your culture will improve.

Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see” – and

that goes for every member of your organisation, most

obviously the senior leaders and the key protagonists.

If your board of directors supports culture change they

must demonstrate it; otherwise, those delegated to

‘create the movement’ will be left in a precarious position,

treading water and without a paddle.

In our experience, most leaders approve a ‘culture

programme’ thinking that they’re ‘OK’ and that it’s

everyone else who needs to change. Ironically, those at

the top often have the most work to do because they

have successfully navigated the existing culture to

achieve a position of authority.

Leaders who are effective in creating culture change

know that there’s no free ride and that they need to

change first. Be the change you want to see.

“ Be the change you want to see”

Gandhi

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Catch the wave.

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Who owns culture?

Everyone’s fingerprints are on culture, but who is best to

lead and own culture is a different question and in many

respects depends on your specific context.

Typically large scale culture programmes should be

sponsored and lead by the Board & the CEO. The Executive

team are important catalysts and leaders in the change

however and need to be visible leaders in creating

momentum and supporting the change.

Our experience has been that when a business leader

takes responsibility for the culture change it is more likely

to be successful, these odds increase greatly of course

if the Chief Executive is also its chief advocate. The truth

is every leader at every level plays a specific role in

creating this cultural shift. Never forget that it is your

people that will power it up.

A specific mention for your HR team, they should provide

the subject matter, expertise and leadership depending

on their seniority in your organisation. HR leaders should

be co-collaborators, co-pilots, internal coaches and architects

of the change. Culture work provides the HR team with

the opportunity to partner with business leaders to

leverage their people know-how to maximum effect.

From then on, everyone is responsible for bringing the

project to life.

To catch the right wave, you need to understand timing.

Launch too early and the wave is uncatchable; launch too

late and you’ll get dumped.

The same applies to culture change. Timing is

everything.

Where to start? You should be very clear on who wants

change and who’s asking for it.

• Uncommitted: if the CEO isn’t aligned, change

won’t happen.

• Committed but too busy: if the CEO is aligned but

too busy, it probably won’t happen.

• Committed: if the CEO can see the benefits, trust

the method and become personally and passionately

involved, it stands a chance.

If your CEO is committed, you’re ready to seek

commitment from the executive team, the board or

whoever makes decisions in your organisation.

Note this can take time, and there’s no shortcut.

“A wave isn’t like a skate ramp or mountain; everything’s moving around, and you have to time how to move along with it.” Kelly Slater

Catch the wave.

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Building momentum to catch the wave.

Some executives take the ‘big bang’ approach and jump

straight into announcing a culture change programme –

and they’re surprised when, after working hard in the

background to come up with the best way forward, their

announcement falls flat. Why the lacklustre reaction?

You have to remember that while you’ve been hard at

work devising the grand plan, the rest of your people are

hard at “BAU’ and oblivious to your initiative. Internal

public relations, great communications, videos supported

by images of happy-looking employees might help, but

they won’t be enough.

You can also leave things too late, especially if your

organisation is experiencing high levels of

disengagement and disillusionment owing to what’s

already perceived as a poor culture. In this case, a

wrongly timed big-bang launch without any local

face-to-face follow-up could cause more harm than good.

If your people are cynical, you need to build some

goodwill before you can reasonably expect them to want

to change or go on the journey with you. Otherwise they’ll

feel it’s too little, too late and find ways to pick at the

flaws in your plan.

Just as out in the surf you must build up momentum to

get on the wave, if you’re serious about culture change

you need to ‘warm up’ the organisation as part of the

launch. Get people involved early and often as you build

momentum. Culture change is a team sport – the idea

that leaders can alone develop the way forward is

outdated in our fast-paced world.

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Building Momentum for change. How IBM Australia & New Zealand crowd-sourced its

vision and aspirational culture.

When IBM Australia & New Zealand decided to evolve its

culture, it knew it had to involve those who were most

invested and had the most to gain – IBMers.

With 5,000 employees in Australia and New Zealand it

was not an easy undertaking. The goal was to involve at

least 20% of IBMers in a series of two-hour, face-to-face

workshops called ‘vision sprints’ whereby IBMers

envisioned the kind of culture that would get the best out

of them and create a new IBM.

Designed by Human Synergistics, these sprints were led

by IBMers for IBMers – with the IBM executive and HR

teams were trained to facilitate the vision sprints. A

number of critical questions were asked of all

participants in the sprints:

1. What excites you about IBM A/NZ? Describe the kind

of culture that would get the best out of you?

2. Thinking about IBM culture 2020 – ideally, how much

of each of these behaviours would you want? (as part

of the HS OCI Ideal Survey)

3. What do we need to do differently to get there? What

should we keep, stop and start doing?

The result? The vision sprints were infectious, especially

as no-one expected them to be as enjoyable or as

meaningful as they were. IBMers were soon telling their

colleagues to attend, saying it was “worth it”, and a

positive energy began to show across the organisation.

What’s more, IBMers had a clear and shared vision of

what their culture could look like and why it was

important.

IBM Case study Create.Lead.Become. #anewibm

“Don’t wait. Do something. You can’t break anything.”

David La Rose Former Managing Director Australia / New Zealand

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The wave you need…

The failure of a culture change project can rarely be put

down to it being a ‘bad idea’. Failures tend to happen

when organisations are unrealistic about the scope and

scale of the journey they’re asking their people to

undertake or leaders “bail out” and jump off the wave

for fear of being dumped.

How do you inspire an organisation that everyone in it

should change? Consider these questions:

• If I gave you the tools and opportunity to be a better

worker or a better husband/wife, son/daughter, parent

or friend, and at the same time said you’d share the

journey with others – would you want to do it?

• If I told you I could give you a language that allowed

your views to be respected (not necessarily acted on)

and considered, would you want it?

• If I told your leaders that their people would let go of

their cynicism and really talk, would they want it?

• And if I told you your job would be easier because

your people would want to do theirs, would you be

interested?

We suspect your answers to all four questions would be

‘yes’. Most people would say ‘yes’ too, especially when

they believe the offer is genuine.

These examples give you an inkling of what a good

culture can look like. But caveat emptor, it’s not perfect,

it’s not easy, and it takes courage and time.

Ultimately, culture change begins with a positive change

in mindset and behaviour – and as that change

progresses you’ll see increasingly positive results at an

organisational level. If you measure these collective

behaviours and norms you can also measure how

individuals contribute through their own behaviours. You’ll

then have a neat ecosystem of leadership behaviour and

cultural performance. Let’s call it a tail wind that allows

you to paddle faster and more efficiently as a team.

Make it easy to get on board… reduce friction

You may accept that culture means everyone, but that

doesn’t mean everyone accepts culture. If Jane from

Accounts finds culture change too complicated or that

it gets in the way of her job, you’ll get bumps in your

analogous ocean – and you’ll end up taking two strokes

back for every one that takes you forward.

Equally if Mary, the Finance Manager, isn’t confident

enough to support her team of 15 in the culture change

project – and she doesn’t see any upside to it anyway –

how can you expect her to commit? And if Pete the field

supervisor doesn’t see how it will help him to manage his

tradies and considers it another case of ‘corporate BS’,

how can you expect him to want to give it any of his time?

Make it simple. Jane, Mary, Pete and all your people will

come on the ride if you explain clearly and simply that:

• “these are our ideal behaviours and this is why they

matter (to you, to the business and to customers)”

• “this is why you should care about our culture

(for you, for us and for our customers)”

• “this is how we measure your behaviours”

• “here is what our culture looks like as an organisation.”

Repeat, repeat, repeat. Jane, Mary and Pete can have

confidence that if they commit to the change project the

organisation won’t change the rules down the track.

They’ll understand where their effort, energy and time

will make the greatest difference.

Remember, keep the message clear and simple –

it’s the key to traction and stickability.

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Ride the wave.



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We have described here some of the essential factors.

Leadership: Know how you behave and how you’d like to behave,

and keep moving towards that goal. Self-awareness is

important, but action and impact make the difference.

It’s not about your personality, it’s about how you behave.

If leaders make the journey, so to can the rest of the

organisation. This is where the notion of smooth sailing

comes in. If you want to help your leaders, simplify the

message, use constructive behaviours as an individual

compass, then use those same behaviours as an

organisational compass. Think about how you take key

leaders in your organisation on a journey, then spread

the net as widely as possible.

Storytelling: The CEO should lead the journey. They’re a powerful

beacon, particularly if they’re prepared to share the

journey in appropriate settings. Imagine them standing

in front of senior leaders (or others), authentically sharing

their life journey while demonstrating how they’ve spent

time and energy on gaining insights into and improving

their behaviour.

Behaviour like this shows others that it’s important to

engage and, importantly, safe to do so. Others will then

share; trust and authenticity will build; behaviours will be

more consistent; and culture will improve. We’re fortunate

to live in an age where vulnerability demonstrated

authentically and appropriately is seen as a strength.

Line of sight: As we’ve already commented, culture is hard to pin down

but you can always measure a point in time. Positive

changes in individual behaviours (that are measured)

lead to positive movements in culture when they happen

on a broad scale. Continual measurement gives a line of

sight into improvement and can be correlated to business

improvement. Measurement should be done as regularly

as the organisation finds appropriate, and not stopped.

Whether it’s yearly or two-yearly, you must check and

re-check to ensure that improvements continue.

Remember, culture never stops; it’s an ecosystem that

ebbs and flows with or without action. It’s like keeping

the ocean clean.

Catching an ocean wave is one thing, riding it is something

else again. You need focus, a line of sight to your

destination, balance, commitment, training and practice.

This is also true of culture. In this section we share our

perspectives on the tools you could use – but you know

your organisation best, so in making your choice you’ll

need to understand and consider your organisational

context.

We suggest you start by thinking of your culture change

project as one of the largest change management

projects you’ve ever done. Consider the stakeholders, the

champions and the detractors and plan carefully how to

move forward.

“ Everything we do, even the slightest thing we do, can have a ripple effect and repercussions that emanate. If you throw a pebble into the water on one side of the ocean, it can create a tidal wave on the other side.”

Victor Webster

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“

Shape Case study Getting into Shape: the leadership-culture connection.

SHAPE is Australia’s leading commercial and

fit-out refurbishment specialist. For more than

30 years it’s been bringing spaces to life around

the country.

SHAPE’s vision of a highly constructive culture

is being lived every day as ‘the way we do things

around here’. Excellence and performance are

critical aspects of SHAPE’s culture and success

and their journey has involved making tough

choices, increasing people’s accountability and

building strong leadership capabilities. Its focus

on performance has led it to track and monitor

the impacts of leadership and culture on its

performance. The results below speak for

themselves…

State 1:

Individual Leaders 360 profiles & Culture Results

State 2:

Individual Leaders 360 profiles & Culture Results

State 1 Leaders Profile

State 1 Balanced Scorecard result 99.5%

State 2 Leaders Profile

State 2 Balanced Scorecard result 94.4%

Although we build things, the single most important thing we will ever build is a great place to work.”

Constructive leaders (blue) create Constructive cultures that deliver results.

23


Balance: Given the extent of the task, you must consider the

extent to which you apply control versus enablement

and empowerment. You’ll know you’re in a good place

when stakeholders ask why they’re not included yet,

or suggest ideas for escalating the process or

communicating better with others in the organisation.

While a culture change project is likely to start with

sponsorship from a committee or project team, the

ultimate outcome is an organisation that brings agreed

behaviours to life through undertaking business projects

and initiatives in a free-flowing and natural fashion.

You may be tempted to try controlling each detail of

the project, but you also need to be strong enough to

know when to step back. Be the architect, the engineer

and the leader instead.

Manage those who are swimming against the wave. Your people aren’t stupid. ‘Feel good’ rhetoric is cheap

and means nothing until it is verified by experience.

If you are seeking to create a high performing

constructive culture, you need high-performing

constructive leaders energizing their teams and

role-modelling what ‘good’ looks like. People don’t

expect their leaders to be perfect just congruent.

So when any of your leaders are not aligned with your

message, your biggest barrier to culture change is

white-anting your efforts from the sidelines. So how

can you tell? Many times your people may not speak up

if they perceive that the leader is a ‘protected species’.

So what are the signs of white-anting leaders ?

• They say one thing but do the opposite.

• While they seem to agree with the decisions and

initiatives around culture at the executive table,

they are slow to deliver, if they deliver at all.

• Their people learn about what is going on from

their colleagues in other divisions, not from them.

• They will tend to describe efforts at culture change

as ‘warm and fuzzy’, ‘fluffy’ and argue that they

have more pressing priorities. This can show up as

the more passive aggressive version where they

couch their opposition in terms of “ you know

I think this is important but...”

Any of these signs (certainly all) require a frank conversation

with them to call out your concerns, explore their position,

understand their resistance and discuss if there is a way

forward (where they are willingly prepared to behave

differently). Most importantly set very clear expectations

about what you need to see from them moving forward.

Once you have defined clear organisational values and the

behaviours that align to them, no one should be exempt

from being expected to demonstrate them no matter

how close they are to you or to the CEO, nor how great

they are at delivering results, there will be a cost to these

results by the way. It should not be a “one strike and

you’re out!” policy, but a clear and unambiguous process

outlining your expectations and actively managing them

to that. We cannot stress enough that allowing these

leaders or so called ‘high performers’ to continue unchecked

or unchanged will absolutely lead your efforts in culture

work to fail. Worse it will destroy your credibility too.

Training: The concepts and language around ‘culture’ are new and

unfamiliar, and the debate around what culture is can be

long and ferocious. You need to equip your people with

the skills and information they need. If they experience

something personal through their own behaviours, it’s a

great start – but it’s only a start.

Set plans to review progress. Ensure that line managers

get the training they need both to build culture into their

coaching conversations and to train others. Find the right

time to repeat the training until you know the message

has sunk in. Include new staff in training as part of their

inductions. Regular training and messaging will ensure

success.

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Common language: One of the great things about a constructive culture is

that it builds ‘kinship’ – patterns and networks of social

relationships that shape people’s experiences of an

organisation. Kinship is associated with the idea of

‘affinity’, or bonding, which comes from sharing common

ground in purpose, values and how we interact with

one another.

Without question, having a common language is one

of the best ways to build and reinforce kinship in culture.

It provides a shortcut to mutual understanding about

‘how we do things around here’. In the early phase of

change, one of the most tangible building blocks is a

sticky, consistent, simple, common language.

Systems:Review your current systems and be certain that they

support the desired behaviours you want to achieve.

Where these are at odds you should change them. If you

leave the systems as they are and don’t change them you

will re-enforce your old culture and indirectly undermine

your change efforts.

Daily use:What skill have you mastered lately? Let’s say surfing.

Did you jump on the board and let rip? It’s more likely

that you paddled out, got scared and somehow made

it back to solid ground. You took a deep breath, thought

about how much you wanted to try it, and started again.

You picked up tips from friends, kept practising and

found yourself enjoying the ride more and more. Soon

you were trying new manoeuvres, and found you could

spot the right conditions to catch a wave. You might

even have started a collection of boards.

It’s impossible to master any skill without using it

continually; it’s a bit like getting fit. The same goes for

mastering different behaviours – it’s about using daily

rituals to build small practice sessions and improve

understanding and behaviour.

A tip: Start each meeting – whether it involves the whole organisation, a team or an individual – with a small culture-building exercise. Keep it brief (just 10 minutes a day will help) and include some fun if you can. Try to find other opportunities too. You might even find creative souls ‘practising’ independently.

It’s so easy to move on to the next shiny thing, but in our experience it’s critical to stay the course.

25


KFC has a strong commitment to, and enviable reputation for, its constructive culture.

KFC Case study A KFC story – enshrining positive behaviours.

Many years ago, its Australian team of 35,000

began a culture change journey that helped them

to create one of KFC worldwide’s most respected

business units, with an impressive and sustained

performance. One of the keys to its success was

‘spreading the message’ – empowering every

outlet manager to make a difference in their part

of the business. They built the commitment by

starting each outlet manager on a personal

journey that was tailored for them. A “culture

off-site” that felt like a leadership development

programme. Followed by a commitment to

continue this personal investment.

Aware that the managers would require training

for this role, KFC Australia chose its tools wisely.

The managers received consistent training on

the language of positive behaviours, and took

part in interactive and sometimes fun sessions

that helped them to learn. The training didn’t

stop there – leaders in other parts of the

business also learned to bring consistent content

to life. And they never stopped building culture;

having delivered results that were the envy of

other business units, they maintained their

efforts and continued to build the language of

positive behaviours.

26

Reflect on the ride.



27

There’s a close, symbiotic relationship between the

changes taking place at an individual level and those

happening at a system level. Research by Human

Synergistics into why organisations succeed in creating

culture change found that:

• individual change precedes organisational change

• increased awareness improves individuals’ ability to

think differently about not just how they personally

operate but how their teams could function differently

and how they could streamline processes to accelerate

outcomes through increased collaboration.

This kind of ripple effect can only happen if an organisation

has a strong vision and its culture has been

operationalised in a way that makes sense to everyone.

Measure – and measure again.Remember, measurement is a constant: individuals

measure their improvements in behaviour and the

organisation measures its impact against its culture.

The measuring should show progress – and that progress

can be mapped against broader organisational goals.

Find the parts of your organisation that are doing well and

learn about what they’ve done to achieve this. Refine your

plans based on what you have learnt, then measure again

– and regularly. Culture initiatives can’t be ‘set and forget’,

they’re an ongoing driver to your operational rhythm.

How do you know it’s working?You’ve involved your people early, bit by bit and often.

How do you know you’ve caught the wave?

You’ll see it in many ways:

• People will start talking about culture, joking about

it rather than deriding it.

• You’ll hear a common language peppering

conversations at all levels.

• Team members will be encouraging each other to

show up at ‘culture sessions’.

• You’ll get unsolicited feedback about positive

reactions to the project.

• People will volunteer to get involved and help out.

They’ll start calling out their peers – the naysayers

and hecklers on the side-line who are blocking

progress by behaving in an unhelpful or defensive ways.

• People will start to initiate new ways of working,

and processes will become more efficient.

In short, you’ll notice that people are tapping in to pride,

passion and purpose – three powerful levers for culture

change.

Changing culture is all about creating a felt need to act,

a desire to be part of something different, bigger and

wonderful. Inspiring the perhaps dormant aspirations of

your people creates a compelling pull towards change.

People in the corporate world like to emphasise the mind,

yet the fastest route to culture change is unlocking and

harnessing passion. To change culture successfully you

need to involve people’s hearts – use emotion to move

them and create a felt need to act. Talk to the heart, not

just the mind.

“ My passion for surfing was more than my fear of sharks.”

Bethany Hamilton

Culture Measure

Individual Measure Individual Measure

GoalsOrganisational

Culture Measure

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Catching waves: conclusion



29

• Everyone wants

a great culture

• Change is scary

• But it’s so rewarding

• Understand your

organisation’s context

• Consider the many ways

to start

• Choose your way

• It is not us and them.

There’s only us

• Sometimes you need

several attempts

• Your ‘force’ must be strong

• You’re part of the change

• Build momentum

• It’s a big change

• Stay focussed and

adapt as needed

• Simplicity helps

• Pick the tools you need

• Storytelling is powerful

• Vulnerability is essential

• A common language

builds bonds

• Measure, measure, measure

• Iterate all the way

• Accept that it’s a long

road to success

What a feeling it is to achieve something great.

“ I could not help concluding this man had the most supreme pleasure while he was driven so fast and so smoothly by the sea.” Captain James Cook

We’re all part of a crisis of culture, just as the ocean

is in crisis

Read the conditions before

you choose your wave

Paddle out Reflect on your ride

Ride your wave

Catch the wave


30

Culture is not about your industry. Not about your business. Not about your executive team in isolation.

Culture is about all your people, your customers, your stakeholders and your community. It’s like the ocean.

It will either flow with you or against you.

It’s there for everyone, it cannot be controlled, but it can be kept clean and healthy.

Human Synergisticswww.human-synergistics.com.auwww.hsnz.co.nz

AHRIwww.ahri.com.au

Copyright Information © Copyright Human Synergistics New Zealand Ltd and Human Synergistics Australia Pty Ltd. All rights reserved. This book has been produced to support the efforts of our accredited network and clients. This work may not be reproduced without permission. Any errors and omissions are excepted. Please treat this data with the respect it deserves. While we’re not vengeful, we are provokableTM.

All circumplexes, profiles and questionnaire items are copyright Human Synergistics International, research and development by Robert A Cooke, PhD and J Clayton Lafferty, PhD.

Catching Waves. · 2019-08-28 · and sectors including banking and finance, telecommunications and...

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Transcript of Catching Waves. · 2019-08-28 · and sectors including banking and finance, telecommunications and...